The central issue in this research project is the relation between the physical, mental, and social pathologies connected with urban dirty work and the ownership of the organizations through which that work is done. The study focuses on garbage collectors, both because their jobs constitute an archetypal example of what is meant by dirty work, and because their work is carried out through a unique diversity of ownership patterns. Garbage collecting organizations exemplifying three distinct categories of ownership are included in the study -- municipal operations, private companies, and worker-owned firms. The guiding hypothesis of the research is that the co-owners of the worker-owned firms will exhibit fewer symptoms of physical and mental pathology than garbage collectors who work under other ownership conditions. In the first year of the project, emphasis was placed on the collection of qualitative data by means of interviews and participant observation. In the second year, a design for a quantitative test of the hypothesized relationships will be developed and implemented.